Mr

Statement by

Paul Steckle, Member of Parliament for

Huron-Bruce

In the House of Commons

March 8 th, 2005

DURING THE EMERGENCY DEBATE ON BSE

Thank you Mr. Speaker:

I am pleased to rise this evening and speak to this most critical issue affecting our primary agricultural producers. Sadly, we’ve seen a lot of numbers thrown about on all sides of the House tonight, but clearly the bottom line of the equation is that our producers are hurting and they are hurting badly. This is not a numbers game – IT IS ABOUT OUR FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

It is also about the devastating impact that the BSE crisis is having on rural economies in general. To put it simply, when farmers hurt, all of rural Canada feels their pain and Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of pain out there in rural Canada.

Mr. Speaker, when I first began drafting this speech tonight I considered talking about the repositioning strategy announced by the Minister of Agriculture last September.

I strongly believe that his plan is forward-looking and positive for the long-term. I believe that this made-in-Canada solution focuses on returning the Canadian livestock sector to profitability with OR without a border opening.

One must acknowledge that the Repositioning strategy is the result of close collaboration with industry and with the provinces. It clearly aims to address both the immediate needs of ruminant producers, and to reposition the sector for the longer term whether or not the border reopens

I understand the importance of the three main objectives announced in the September plan. Enhancing slaughter capacity; helping producers transition; and expanding and diversifying markets are all lofty, important and necessary goals. In fact, the Agriculture Committee has been calling for these measures for some time now and I am glad to see that Ag Canada is responding.

That said, tonight I plan to talk about four things that do not revolve around the Repositioning strategy. They are;

The fact that we are moving live US cattle through Canada into the continental United States;
The allegations made by a former USDA veterinarian that the US is hiding their cases of BSE.
The need for an immediate and substantial injection of funds to help support our farmers
And the fact that the only science keeping the border closed to Canadian beef is US based political science.

Mr. Speaker, I know that I may sound a little militant when I talk about these things but many of my constituents were holding out until the border opened yesterday but, as all Members know, that didn’t happen. Moreover, it didn’t happen because of reasons that escape the understanding of most rational individuals. That missed date represents a huge psychological defeat for our farmers and I would be remiss if I failed to address this during the course of debate this evening.

Permit me to be clear Mr. Speaker. I firmly believe that the Government of Canada, the CFIA and the Minister of Agriculture are doing all they can however, I believe that the language of diplomacy is obscuring the facts somewhat in this instance. I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that the Bush Administration is appealing the recent decision of the U.S. District Court in Montana that prevented the border from opening as planned. This support is appreciated by our producers but regrettably, the fact is that the border remains closed.

With that said, I would like to cite an article that appeared in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen entitled “Agriculture minister pushes for ban on Hawaiian cattle: Shipments transit Vancouver on way to continental U.S.”

The article went on to say that the B.C. Minister of Agriculture was calling upon the federal government to stop permitting U.S. cattle to be shipped through our ports. I would have to add that if, according to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. District Court in Montana and the lobby group RCALF, Canada is so wrought with risk then why would they want to have their cattle touch our soil. The truth is Mr. Speaker that there is no more risk here then in the U.S. and the U.S. Senate, the U.S. District Court in Montana and the lobby group RCALF know that full well. They are simply playing game in an attempt to use the BSE crisis as a mechanism to pummel their Canadian competitors into dust.

Getting back to the article Mr. Speaker , it is time to take off the kid gloves and fight fire with fire. I know that our Minister wants “to encourage the international community to adopt rational, justified trade responses to BSE” but what are we to do if our subliminal messages are being ignored and thwarted by certain elements of the U.S. beef industry? I am not suggesting that we should shoot ourselves in the foot by introducing measures that are irrational or hap hazard, but our industry is taking on water. We are down to the brass tacks and our farmers need immediate and substantial help.

Mr. Speaker , I know that this Government is committed to supporting our producers in this their time of need. And if there were any doubt on this front I would simply point out that over the past two years, record – RECORD – payments have gone out to producers across the country.

$4.8 billion in 2003. Projected $4.9 billion in 2004. $2.6 billion in direct BSE assistance, of which the federal share was almost $2 billion. That’s the kind of initial support I’m talking about, Mr. Speaker. Again, that is the initial support to which I refer. It is now time for MUCH MORE.

Secondly, as an extension of the above, also in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen was an article that was entitled “ U.S. hiding mad cow cases…” Now Mr. Speaker, there has been talk in the country side for months that the U.S. has adopted King Ralph’s “shoot, shovel and shut-up” approach but according to this article we now have a whistle blower. The article references a former USDA veterinarian who formerly supervised meat inspectors south of the border. He outlined how he oversaw the processing and/or disposal of hundreds of downer and suspect animals. He claims that he has no doubt that there are instances of BSE in the U.S. – they simply deal with it outside of the public eye.

This veterinarian outlines how false positives are not followed up on and how the U.S. testing programme may be subverted as a result of long-standing systemic deceptions of this nature. I submit Mr. Speaker that from a purely scientific perspective it is difficult if not impossible to accept that the U.S. is free of BSE. While our state of knowledge with respect to this disease is incomplete, we do understand that spontaneous cases are generated at a rate of about one in a million. That said, the U.S. with its millions of cattle could not possibly be 100% free of BSE. It is not realistic is any sense of the word.

Again Mr. Speaker, I am not looking to bash our American friends but I am tired of getting kicked around for no reason. If there was a problem with the quality of Canadian beef I would be the first to support embargos and other forms of corrective action but this is not the case. I eat Canadian beef and feed it to my family because I know it to be of the highest quality available in the world.

Thirdly, our farmers need money now. I can barely listen to this debate any more. We all know the problems and we should stop playing politics with the issue. Again, the Minister has done a stellar job so far and he should be commended for that but we need action if our farmers are going to survive. In health care, once the Prime Minister determined that we were going to fix the problem for a generation he took immediate and decisive action to do just that. Under his leadership the provinces were brought together and a deal was struck that placed our healthcare system on a stable footing for the next 10 years. I would urge every Member of this House to take that kind of approach on this.

I don’t know what will fix this problem entirely but I have several actions that could be taken to, once added together, provide substantial assistance to our farmers, their families and to all of rural Canada. I would love to hear what other Members have to say on this front. Increasing our domestic slaughter capacity through producer owned cooperatives would be an important first step. Governments could provide access to start-up capital and streamline the red tape.

Governments must also get money into the hands of our farmers and NOT into the hands of packing plants. Let’s hear Members stand up tonight and tell us how they believe that this can be accomplished effectively. Simply writing cheques will not solve these problems if they are written without a long-term plan. Let’s move agriculture beyond crisis management and onto a stable foundation for the next generation.

Fourthly, I will again restate my belief that the only science keeping the U.S. border closed to our beef is political science.

The OIE said that there was no reason to close the border because Canada’s beef is not a health risk.

Our tracing system prevented the public from eating the BSE contaminated beef – unlike the U.S. systems that permitted their cow to be placed on supermarket shelves.

Canada has taken measures to remove SRMs from the food supply. SRM are the only part of the animal that can contain the BSE prion and hence, there is no possibility for contamination of the human food supply.

For these reasons and more Mr. Speaker, I submit to you that our neighbours to the south are playing games. I heard a media interview with a U.S. Senator that said he believed that Canadian beef was safe but he had to vote against re-opening the border because he needs to get re-elected in 2006.

Worse yet, after the RCALF victory in the Montana Court the media interviewed RCALF members and they all said that they would eat Canadian beef. I find this astonishing. If they believe that our beef is not safe then why would they consume it? Mr. Speaker, the fact is that they do not feel that our beef is a risk. They are simply playing games that are hurting our farmers.

I should point out that even the U.S. President ate Canadian beef when he visited Canada a short time ago. To his credit though, he at least has the courage to admit that he feels our beef is safe.

I would suggest that our American friends remember that one day the proverbial chickens may come home to roost. If and when a U.S. based case is discovered I would sincerely hope that they will not look to this Canadian M.P. for sympathy. I would be prepared to offer the same level of compassion and logic that the U.S. Senate offered to us. If we are indeed friends, then I would call upon the U.S. to act accordingly. Unless they are able to actually produce some science in support of this continuing border closure, then they should stop their actions. Failure to do so should be looked at by Canada as nothing more than unwarranted trade sanctions and we should take actions accordingly.

I again congratulate the Minister, the CFIA, the Standing Committee and the federal government for their actions thus far in dealing with the BSE crisis and I would encourage swift steps to deal with this clandestine trade action by the U.S. Canadian farmers need us and, until I see movement, I will speak the language of diplomacy no more.